YOU WITH THE DISEASE

Is he so conscious of looking too fashion-forward? “I for don relax my hair today but e go look somehow.”

Does he always end every ‘suggestive’ statement with #nohomo?

Is he so conscious of being around effeminate guys?

Does he hate feminine guys? He spares no moment to ridicule them, cast aspersions on them, and sometimes tends to go violent on them?

Has he ever said, “If my son turns out gay, I go burn am walahi!”?

Does he hate the feminist movement – can’t stand women being given equal opportunities as men?

Does he love making chauvinistic comments just to uplift himself and consequently feel like an alpha male?

He has the ailment – the silent soul burner that slowly eats away at your humanity until you are a soulless zombie.

Internalised Homophobia.

That’s what it’s called. A kind of homophobia present in only homosexuals who are not proud of who they are, not confident in themselves and thus, look for every opportunity to vent their spleen on those who have found peace in their sexuality.

These are the gays on the down-low. They try hard to live according to the beat of heteronormativity, but at dusk, when the night skies are out and the crickets come chirping, like the reptile, they shed their hetero-skin and unleash their true nature.

They are the most dangerous type of homophobes. Hardly want to see any reason why homophobia is a disease that should be eradicated.

Why should they? Any acknowledgement of the sort would bring them face-to-face with their inner demons.

If you are confident in whom you are, there’s no reason to try hard to justify it. If you are confident as a supposed heterosexual, why detail your life with the scorn of the homosexual?

If he is all that’s mentioned above and maybe even more, check him – for a gay man on the down-low strikes crueler than the ignorance of the homophobe.

16 Comments

“Why do we have this knee-jerk reaction to term the most foolish homophobes as closeted homosexuals? I’m not saying internalised homophobia doesn’t exist. I am just worried that the first comment in most forums when someone does homophobic shit is, ‘And he might even be secretly gay.’ Biko, LGBT folks don’t want such idiots. Let them be straight abeg.”

On a more serious note, it’s simply not true that most homophobes are self-hating gays. A lot are, but the majority are stupid straight men. It’s almost as if we think so little of our community. Or we think gayness a punishment for homophobes.

The sentiment that a homophobe may very well be a self hating gay person comes, to me, from the belief that if you’re rabidly against something that ought not to concern you, then it MUST concern you and you’re trying to convince yourself otherwise.
I don’t believe homophobes are internally homophobic gay men. But I believe that anytime the issue of homosexuality comes up and you don’t waka pass, and you jump in foaming at the mouth, then you’re a self hating gay man.

I know it’s your sworn mission in life to always call Delle out on his PAST biphobia (emphasis on ‘past’), but aren’t you going for a stretch by relating this post about internalized homophobia to biphobia?

Maybe I’m going for a stretch here but I’ve always opined that it takes lots of relearning and unlearning not to be homophobic (internal and external) in Nigeria. I tend to cut people slack and only come hard on their homophobic asses if they blatantly refuse to assimilate new info.

Pete would keep on coming this way. Even if the post is about vegetables and how it affects the alimentary canal of the unrepentant bottom, he would drag it out till it somehow connects to my past sentiments on biphobia.

This post made to remember a Facebook profile I came across last Thursday where this guy has written boldly as his Bio headline. “I am Straight” Meanwhile, we have 44 mutual friends. *vigorous eyeroll*

They end up hating you and asking you to come to confessions in church after they aff fuck you all through the night… They blame you for making them sin. Yet they come to you when hormones come calling…